


Ricochet

by RedRoseWhite



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Clones, Corpses, Dark, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Murder, Pregnancy, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Sith Ben Solo, Sith Rey, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, Suicidal Thoughts, The Dark Side of the Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25639633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedRoseWhite/pseuds/RedRoseWhite
Summary: When Ben climbs out of the pit and finds Rey dead on Exegol, he turns to his grandfather's legacy to find the strength he'll need to go on.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 18
Kudos: 47
Collections: Reylo Folklore Flash Fic





	Ricochet

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Folklore Flashfic exchange; my song was "My Tears Ricochet". Taylor Swift said the theme of this song is "an embittered tormentor showing up at the funeral of his fallen object of affection," so I went with that image.

When he found Rey dead on Exegol, Ben Solo killed himself. 

He had to; he was too defeated to do anything else. The pattern of his life came into focus, as if the galaxy had pressed his face to a tile, then suddenly yanked him back to view the mosaic. The warmth of his mother's fragrant lap, his father’s tickling mischievous nudges, the way his uncle had squeezed his shoulder with pride. The reaching of Rey’s hand by firelight. All of that love, only just tasted before the cup was dashed from his hand. This was the lesson. Those things were for other people, not him. Trying to have them would just bring more punishment.

He hadn't wanted to leave his family. He hadn't asked to be betrayed. He’d come to help Rey; it was for nothing, and not because of choices he had anything to do with. The forces of the universe were conspiring to show him that love was never for him. Ben Solo wanted to be loved so badly, the hunger for it made him ache. Death was the only relief there could be. The sabers were near Rey’s body; his mother's, he tucked into Rey’s cooling hand. Let her be entombed with it, like a monument to the love he’d cherished the most. Then Ben picked up the one that had belonged to his grandfather, the one that had killed the younglings. Time for it to take another life. 

The casing was loose, and as he fumbled, it fell open a little in his hand. He saw the kyber shard. He thought of how this crystal had taken a journey from honour to evil and back again. Like him. It seemed so tiresome to try and reconnect the saber so that it would ignite when he pressed it to his chest. Maybe he would take up his mother's after all….

Absentmindedly, Ben held the crystal in his hand. The last time he’d held one, he had been bleeding his first. He’d never fully owned it; he'd worn Kylo Ren like a suit, always pretending. Kylo had Ben living inside of him, a parasite sapping his strength. Suddenly Ben wished Kylo Ren had known there was no hope for him. So much of his conflict and pain would have been spared. He could have blazed across the galaxy like a ruthless king, sating his every passion, wreathed in greatness and awe. Secure in the knowledge that it would be pointless to love anything because he would never in his life be meaningfully loved in return. The kyber felt as cold in his palm as Rey’s hand had. Ben gazed at it, and thanked the Force with all of his heart for showing him the truth at last. 

Ben meditated on every abandonment, every betrayal. He re-lived every dream he’d had about the home he might find in Rey, and tinted those dreams with the knowledge that they were a sick lie; nobody would ever want to comfort him or be comforted by him. He recalled every murder and execution, ending on the red glow on his father's face. The loathing and hatred blossomed through his every muscle and sinew, snaking vines of murky light that ran along the paths of his veins and infused him with an anguish that stoked his rage. The kyber in his fist shuddered and cracked into a thing of crimson and onyx, and as an amber colour seeped through his eyes, Ben Solo’s soul left them entirely, peacefully dead forever. His hands put the crystal back inside the casing, snapped its parts into place, and pressed the button to ignite it. From his chest he let out a satisfied hum in tune with the bloody light that sprang forth.

“Finally,” Darth Korbis murmured reverently to the blade. “Finally, Vader’s saber is mine.” 

He rose from his knees, walked back to Rey, and looked down at the girl’s shell. Even hollow like this, her body was comely and sweet. Korbis scooped her into his arms and walked with purpose to the first spot where he needed to place her. When he was finished here, he would deposit the corpse nearer to the entrance. Her friends would come to collect her, and hopefully leave without venturing further. They could not be allowed to penetrate what was left of Sidious’ stronghold. It belonged to Korbis now, and he had important plans. With Rey lying silent before him among the equipment of Darth Sidious’ laboratory, Korbis withdrew her clothing from her skin, and began. 

  
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
  


Finn wouldn’t let anyone else carry her, even though he stumbled a few times and it made her arm swing grotesquely towards the ground. Poe looked sideways at Chewie, but Chewie had his eyes trained on the outline of the Falcon near the horizon and would not look anywhere else. Some of Rey’s clean garments were still in a drawer on the ship. After they had loosened her hair and cut away her belts and taken the rose gold saber from her holster, they left Chewbacca alone so that he could remove all the filthy rags she’d worn to fight her final battle. He carefully stroked her with a wet cloth to wash her clean of blood and dirt, then dressed her in new clothes. They used some of her long white wraps to wind her in a shroud, all three of them crying without shame. None of them said anything to one another; what was there to say that would not have been stupid and meaningless. She had saved them all, not just with her saber and her bravery but also with the way her spirit had blazed in friendship, and now she was dead. Once she was resting on her bunk, the saber tucked in the top layer of her bindings, Chewie and Finn set a course for Chandrila, and Poe chose a random bunk to lie in and drink until he blacked out. 

  
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
  


Ben Solo and Kylo Ren had been too weak to conceal themselves well for long periods of time; but Darth Korbis was much more powerful; and skilled at using a Force glamour to travel in disguise. At the funeral procession of the Jedi hero Rey, he looked like a nondescript human male with brown hair and green eyes, in a blue cloak. Her white casket had the emblem of the Rebel Alliance in gold with the Jedi star-sword running up the middle in silver, and it rolled among a throng of mourners down the main streets of Hanna City, while white petals rained. Korbis blinked one away that was caught on his eyelashes and started to make his way from the crowded twisting street to the square where the cenotaph was. It was a tall white stone, with the same symbol from Rey’s casket carved atop it. A hollow drilled through the centre held one of the last known crystals of meryx known to exist. Korbis pictured himself and his queen coming back here later in secret, shattering the stone and taking the meryx to fashion a crown for her. They would smash many things together, snatch all kinds of treasures. Soon. When she was ready. He didn’t want to have any fun yet, all by himself. 

  
  


Four white tiles fanned out from the base of the cenotaph; they were the lids to the plots where the four Great Heroes Of The Resistance War would be interred, three symbolically and one literally. Rey’s casket was to be placed in the position of east. The northern plot already contained a white gown and a piece of the crust of Alderaan that had been harvested from the asteroid field that it had become. The western one held a length of skyfaring silk woven on the planet Gatalenta and a shard of the ship _Raddus_. The southern plot was lined with a simple brown cloak with a pointed hood and three stones: one that had been collected from Tatooine, one from Dagobah, and one from Ahch-To. Korbis stalked the perimeter of the monument, vibrating with the energy of the collective memories of the crowd. Thoughts of war, glory, honour churned among them. Heart-sickness and grief at the death of this little Jedi, so fierce and so young. He felt no emotions of his own, which was a huge relief. During the ceremony, the Wookiee was stoic, lumbering and throwing a long shadow, accompanied by that charlatan in a cape, and the two young men took turns wetting each other’s shoulders with tears. He observed the interplay, the chains of shared history winding and quivering between them all. It was then that Korbis realised one of the most important parts of his plan; the one he had neglected. He’d thought to explore some more before returning to Exegol after the funeral, but this was a luxury he could not have. He needed to prepare for the indoctrination. Once he witnessed this Rey laid to rest and honoured, he would go back as soon as he could. 

  
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
  


The lightning was less disconcerting each time Korbis entered the lair; he became accustomed to the wan light and the cold air. It felt more and more like home. He was so excited to see the result of his handiwork, that it was difficult not to run giddily back into the lab, but he tried to keep control of himself. There was no one around to observe him yet, but it was always better to be disciplined. The bacta solution and growth medium glowed yellow on his face from three sides as he grinned at the tanks; three had been seeded and two had taken. The third contained a misshapen puddle of rot, but no matter, he could drain it and allow the contents to dehydrate into dust. The left-most tank and middle one cradled perfect clones of his queen, his Rey. Her curving cheeks and long back and wiry arms. Just as beautiful and tempting as she had been when he’d come close to her body, held her, and smelled her sweat in life and near-life. Korbis checked the monitors and verified that they would be fully mature in only a few more hours. He hoped the Kaminoans were flourishing; they deserved it. They had made happiness possible for him, at last.

The one on the left awoke first, and before her mind could fully manifest, Korbis reached into it. He pierced and flooded her with his memories of Rey, Takodana and Ilum and Ahch-To and the Supremacy and Crait, meeting face to face and across stars. He forced past his own gall to even give her his humiliation on Kef Bir, and their end on Exegol. After feeding her all of this memory and emotion in the hope of molding her, he felt very tired, and that was his first clue that it was all too much. The second clue was the slackening of the first clone’s face as her brain melted, and she slid to the floor a drooling imbecile. After a second’s hesitation he ended her quickly with a snap of the neck and put the body on the incineration pile with the other detritus. There were only two hours before her sister would be ready. He’d clearly have to wait for her consciousness to awaken fully before seeding her mind to believe she was Rey if he didn’t want to ruin her, too. Korbis tucked a syringe of somniject into his sleeve so that he would be prepared to make her pliant when the time came. 

  
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
  


“Time to pack the last of your things for the move, my love,” Korbis said to his wife as he strolled to her seat at the dining table. He dropped a kiss to her meryx-adorned hair. “I’ve gotten word that the transport I ordered will arrive tomorrow.”

“I hope you hired a nicer ship than you did for our honeymoon on Ashas Ree, husband,” the woman now known as Darth Irus' teased, winking one golden eye at him. Her forkful of rare meat waggled playfully in his direction. How he loved her mischief. She had been made by him, and not the Maker, outside the pattern of all creation, so he never needed to fear that he might lose her love. “I need a more comfortable bed now than last time.”

“Oh I didn’t just hire this ship,” He told her. “I own this one. The crew are droids who do not require sleep, so you will have your choice of bunks.” Korbis reached down and caressed the swell of Irus' belly, gently touching his mind to that of the child within. It swirled with Dark Force energy, the smallest streak of Light at the core. Still ignorant and unknowing, Korbis thought. But that was alright for now. This little one would learn the supremacy of the Dark Side soon enough. 

“If I don’t like any of them, I’ll just sleep in your lap,” she said nonchalantly, tossing her hair. He had no reply, he could deny Irus' nothing. She knew it, and took full advantage, as befitted her. Korbis gave her another kiss, relishing the scent of blood near her mouth, and went back to the lab to complete the data log transfer and preserve their experiments. In their family home on Mustafar, ruling from the fortress of Vader as their bloodline merited, they would teach their son everything he needed to know to bring order at last to these cruel and chaotic stars. 

  
  


FIN

  
  


**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [reborn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27840445) by [Love_andbalance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_andbalance/pseuds/Love_andbalance)




End file.
